University of North Texas Athletics
Athletics Activity
Student-Athlete Roster Declaration
The Compliance Office is responsible for continually monitoring the rosters of each team to confirm that all student-athletes meet the NCAA eligibility requirements for practice, competition, and financial aid. It is important that you notify the Compliance Office of any changes (additions or removals) to your roster as soon as they happen. The Compliance Office will utilize the Student-Athlete Roster Declaration Form to generate a Squad List and Eligibility Checklist for each sport prior to the beginning of each academic year.
Countable Athletically Related Activities
Countable athletically related activities include any required activity with an athletics purpose involving student-athletes and at the direction of, or supervised by, one or more of an institution's coaching staff (including strength and conditioning coaches) and must be counted within the weekly and daily limitations under Bylaws 17.1.7.1 and 17.1.7.2. Administrative activities (e.g., academic meetings, compliance meetings) shall not be considered as countable athletically related activities.
NCAA Bylaw 17.1.7 details the time limits for athletically related activities. There are daily and weekly limits that vary depending on whether or not you are within your playing season. The limits also change during an institutional vacation period and over summer break. The limits vary depending on which sport you participate in, so be sure to check the NCAA manual and consult with the Compliance Office before scheduling a required athletics activity for your team.
Practice logs are submitted weekly by each team's Head Coach or a designee utilizing the ACS CARA feature. Once the Compliance Office receives your Student-Athlete Roster Declaration Form and your Playing and Practice Season Declaration Form, we can set up your CARA logs in ACS so you can begin logging hours for the academic year.
If you have any questions or need assistance configuring your practice groups in ACS you can contact the Compliance Office or our ACS rep, Michelle Carrigan. Michelle can be reached at: (800) 343-6220 ext.2 or mcarrigan@acs.athletics.com
As is outlined in Bylaw 17 of the NCAA Manual, a student-athlete's participation in countable athletically related activities (CARA) shall be limited to the following:
During the Playing Season
Daily Limit: 4 hours
Weekly Limit: 20 hours
At least one (1) day off per week
NOTE: A competition day is considered three (3) hours of activity regardless of the actual duration of the event (this includes pre-game warm-ups, shoot-around, etc.). No countable activities may take place after a competition
Outside the Playing Season
Daily Limit: 4 hours
Weekly Limit: 8 hours
At least two (2) days off per week
Coaches are required to log their teams weekly playing/practice hours through Teamworks.
Voluntary Athletically Related Activities
In order for any athletically related activity to be considered "voluntary," all of the following conditions must be met:
(a) The student-athlete must not be required to report back to a coach or other athletics department staff member (e.g., strength coach, trainer, manager) any information related to the activity. In addition, no athletics department staff member who observes the activity (e.g., strength coach, trainer, manager) may report back to the student-athlete's coach any information related to the activity;
(b) The activity must be initiated and requested solely by the student-athlete. Neither the institution nor any athletics department staff member may require the student-athlete to participate in the activity at any time. However, it is permissible for an athletics department staff member to provide information to student-athletes related to available opportunities for participating in voluntary activities (e.g., times when the strength and conditioning coach will be on duty in the weight room or on the track). In addition, for students who have initiated a request to engage in voluntary activities, the institution or an athletics department staff member may assign specific times for student-athletes to use institutional facilities for such purposes and inform the student-athletes of the time in advance;
(c) The student-athlete's attendance and participation in the activity (or lack thereof) may not be recorded for the purposes of reporting such information to coaching staff members or other student-athletes; and
(d) The student-athlete may not be subjected to penalty if he or she elects not to participate in the activity. In addition, neither the institution nor any athletics department staff member may provide recognition or incentives (e.g., awards) to a student-athlete based on his or her attendance or performance in the activity.
[Note: Coaching staff members may be present during permissible skill-related instruction pursuant to Bylaws 17.1.6.2.2 and 17.1.6.2.3]